morning snuggles

i can't resist that neck! she usually has it craned just so while she sleeps.


another day another swim

who can resist a cute chair?

nani loved this pink chair! she kept turning herself around and around...
she was so proud of her funny game!

sleepy eyes.
too much to do. no time for sleep.

wardrobe change

a girl can never have too many swimsuits!

bikini baby

i'm trying to smile but it's just so bright!

we headed straight for the pier! our favorite shady beach spot!

waves wore her out

DUH! DUH!
aiyana LOVES ducks and talks about them every chance she gets! she reads duck books, requests the duckie in the tub, and even called winnie the pooh a "DUH". quite impressive i thought. it was a poor representation of the yellow bear and could easily have been mistaken for a "DUH".

beautiful end to a beautiful day

love that sink bath!

on our first night in myrtle beach, aiyana relaxed with a quick tubby and then straight to bed

raleigh road trip

mmmmm.... but mama! ice cream is mostly just milk....

at least i'll always have my toes to munch on

our friends, jenna and sophie -- these BFFs hadn't seen each other for more than a year!

jenna ate lunch with BFF, hailey at hailey's school cafeteria. both girls started kindergarten this year. WOW!

past pictures you've missed...

8.13.08 aiyana played with her cousin, jenna michelle

aiyana begins to figure out the peek-a-boo thing

8.16.08 aiyana played with friend, hayden

8.16.08 aiyana helped with the long drive home from the airport

visited with friend sophie (and her mom and new baby sister)

EYE-see you!
8.20.08 aiyana discovers that ANYTHING is suitable for a game of peek-a-boo

look at those gorgeous feet! i'm sure her feet just had a growth spurt

8.20.08 baby girl grooms her own hair after bath...
i am amazed how quickly she absorbs information and then shows us she has mastered what we had no idea she was even paying attention to!


a mobywrap walk with mommy

8.21.08 aiyana tries to dress herself...
i put the dress on the floor and she tried to pull it on over her feet

arriving home late (and sound asleep), daddy carries baby to her bedroom for a last diaper change. fortunately we've learned to change her into p.j.'s when we're going to be out past bedtime. this time, she wouldn't even wake for the diaper! that's never happened before.

finger foods

we tried new finger foods at lunch today: tiny cereals (like cheerios, but teddy bear heads instead). of course, nervous that she might choke, i bit the bites into smaller bits and showed aiyana how to pick them up and put them in her mouth. i fed her one, she fed me one, and then she slowly brought one to her own mouth and fed herself! she seemed to enjoy the process and the cereal didn't taste too bad either.

sign explosion!

wow! i guess when something clicks, it really clicks!

100% sure we have a MOMMY sign. i got lots of confirmation of that one tonight from my sweet girl. once, i walked into the room and she perfectly signed MOMMY on her face!

during bath, aiyana was obviously looking for something, and i said, "what are you looking for? do you want your duck? show mommy PLEASE"
she signed PLEASE with a quick slap across her chest and i gave her the duck. this led to some confusion because later, when i was signing DUCK and asking her if she wanted her duck, she signed PLEASE over and over.

when we sang "goodbye water , goodbye, ducks..." she brought her two fingers to her mouth and made eye contact. this may have been our DUCK sign!

we are having so much fun signing and communicating with aiyana.
i've always known that sign is a powerful tool for communicating, but it is more amazing than i could have imagined to be communicating with my own 10-month old.

cat-attack

aiyana's mom wishes to apologize to aiyana's adoring fans, but we do not have pics to post and may not anytime soon. we (i) have misplaced the camera cord during our recent travels. but here is a word-pic of a little of what you've been missing.

wednesday, aiyana brushed her hair after her bath. she even got the back. (and we got lots of pictures.) on thursday, she tried to dress herself by pulling her dress onto her feet. she seems to have a great knowledge of where things belong. she takes things out the diaper bag and puts them back into the pockets where she got them from.
this week, we have been introducing more finger-foods for aiyana to self-feed. mommy put a piece of banana in her hand; aiyana took it to her mouth, ate it, and gave us the biggest proud face she could! we also tried pieces of cooked chicken and carrots but she preferred the pureed version. so far, aiyana's disinterest in bringing things to her mouth has been a blessing. she mouths toys, but not the things we don't want in her mouth.

(at this moment, aiyana is sitting in front of me, trying to pull herself up at the coffee table.)

aiyana's sign vocab thus far:
MILK
MORE
ALL DONE
BALL
CHANGE
EAT (showed on monday 8.18)
CAT (maybe? she meows and brings her hand to her mouth)
DRINK (showed today, 8.22)
MOMMY?? (we had witnesses that agreed today! she signs MOM but then the thumb slips into her mouth...so i'm still not sure on that one...)

she always greets our house with a "nowh" whenever we open the door because the kitties are there waiting for us.

current fave song: probably Skinnamarink;
she has a fabulous kazoo solo and anticipates it when she hears the song.

current fave game: making noise with anything noisey; at this moment she is banging on stainless steel pans with her wooden blocks. can you hear it?
runners up:
peek-a-boo and cat-attack

looks like "cat-attack" may take the gold...
poor kitties. she's not even crawling and they still can't get away.

listen to the music

this is aiyana's dance pose...she tilts her head to the side when she hears music
(she was listening to papa's country and western cd)

this is aiyana's sweaty beadhead pose

mama's monkey

monkey see

monkey do